mccarthy



UNITED srArEs PATENT oEEicE.

E. J. MCCARTHY, OF NEIV YORK, N. Y.

MACHINERY FOR BURRING WOOL.

Speccation of Letters Patent N o.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, E. J. MCCARTHY, of the city and county of New York,State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inIVOOl-Burring Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, andexact description, reference being` had to the accompanying drawing,forming part of this specification, in which- Figure l represents aperspective view of my machine for removing the burs from wool. Fig. 2represents a vertical transverse section through the center of themachine showing the arrangement of the different parts in relation toeach other. Fig. 3 represents a front elevation of the machine.

It has long been a desideratum to obtain some automatic means by whichthe mestizo bur found in South American wools could be successfullyremoved. rIhe only mode heretofore adopted by which these burs aresuccessfully removed has been to pick them out by hand. But owing to thehigh price of labor, it cannot be adopted in this country, hence most ofthe valuable wools from South America containing this bur are sent toGermany and other parts of Europe where labor is cheaper and few findtheir way to this country. Attempts have been frequently made with theordinary burring machines to remove the mestizo from wool but withoutsuccess as the bur adheres to the wool with so great tenacity that inthe attempts to remove it the fiber of the wool is strained or broken aswell as the bur, the broken pieces of which are scattered among theother fibers leaving the wool in a worse state after passing throughthese machines than before. After much thought, study and manyexperiments upon these wools I have found the best mode for removing thebur is to hold the bur and draw the fiber of the wool from the bur orthe bur from the liber without crushing or breaking it. In order toeffect this object by automatic means I have combined with the drawroller, the breast plate and the stripper used in McCarthys cotton gin apair of feed rollers, the upper one of which is serrated for the purposeof holding one end of the fiber while the opposite end is held by thebreast plate and feed roller in order to produce a tension on the fiberso as to cause it to be drawn out by the stripping plate, and also bentdownward over on the edge of the stripping plate at the end of itsupward mol 26,775, dated January 10, 1860.

tion and thus present it to the stripping plate in a thinner sheet andin such position that the bur is more easily removed.

In the accompanying drawing is represented a machine for removing themestizo burs from wool embracing my improvement. This machine consistsof a strong frame (A) for supporting the working and stationary parts,and these parts consist of a breast plate (B) attached to the cross barof the frame of the machine in such manner that it may be raised orlowered. In front of the breast plate and parallel to it is a vibratorystripping plate (C), which is caused to move in a vertical planeparallel and close to the face of the breast plate by means of guidebars (a) attached to the stripping plate at one end and connected to arock shaft (Z2) at the opposite end, which turns on bearings in the endsof arms (D) projecting from the sides of the frame. This stripping platereceives its motion through links (c) attached to its lower end andconnected with cranks (g) on a crank shaft (It). These links may be madeadjustable for the purpose of regulating the distance the strippingplate overlaps the breast plate in its vibrations. The guide rods mayalso be made adjustable to regulate the distance between the strippingand breast plate.

In front of the breast plate with its axis in the same plane as thelower edge of the breast plate is a draw roller (E) for the purpose ofdrawing the ber forward as it passes under the breast plate.

A secondary frame (F) resting upon the arms (D) carries a feeding apron(G) and feeding rollers (i and c) the upper one of which is serrated inorder to carry forward and hold the fibers of wool. These rollers are soarranged that their line of contact is a little below the upper edge ofthe stripper when at the end of its upward motion so as to cause thefiber to bend down in front over the edge of the stripping plate insteadof being above it.

Motion is communicated to different parts of the machine by means ofpulleys and bands arranged to give the requisite velocity to each part.

In adjusting the machine for use the edge of the breast plate is placedin the same plane with the aXis of the draw roller and by means ofsprings in the same manner as in McCarthys cotton gin. The strippingplate is adjusted by means of the guide bars so as to work near to thebreast plate and admit the ber of the wool to pass and prevent the bursfrom entering between the two plates, and the height it rises andoverlaps the breast plate is also adjusted so that its upper edge willpass about a half an inch above the lower edge of the breast plate. Thevelocity given to the draw roller is such as to carry the ber forward aless distance than the stripping plate passes the breast plate so thatduring the time an open space is left between these two plates by thedescent of the stripping plate the burs stripped backward by thestripping plate shall not pass under the edge of the breast plate but becarried backward on the ber by the neXt upward movement of the stripper.

The wool is rst prepared for this machine by scouring it and running itthrough a picker in order to open it. In this state it is placed uponthe apron which carries it forward to the feed rollers. It then passesbetween the feed rollers to the opening between the breast plate and thestripper. The draw roller catches the points of the bers and carriesthem upward under the edge of the breast plate. The stripping platerising, bends the bers upward between itself and the breast plate, andcarries with it the burs adhering to the fibers. The opposite end of theber being connected by means of other bers and held by the serrated feedrollers whose line of contact is below the edge of the stripping plate,is bent downward in front over the edge of the stripping plate at theend of its upward motion, and placed in a better position for the actionof the stripper to remove the bur and in a measure prevents the bur frompassing between the stripping and the breast plate. As the ber is heldat one end by the draw roller and at the other end by the feed rollerthe ascent of the stripping plate draws the ber so that it is presentedin a thin uniform sheet to the action of the stripping plate, whichfacilitates the removal of the bur.

Having thus described my Yimprovement in machines for removing 4themestizo bur, what I claim therein as new and desire to secure by LettersPatent is- The combination of the feed rollers with the stripping plate,breast plate and the draw roller arranged substantially as described forthe purpose set forth. V

In testimony whereof I have subscribed my name.

E. J. MCCARTHY.

lVitnesses A. M. BARNES, Frrz HENRY FAY.

